- Chris

Team New MexicoTJinTech

Hyperion DUO for sure. You can even charge and sync the two packes together so you get optimal and same discharge rates if using two to make a 6S (or 10S with two 5S, etc) pack. Best deal on those is to find someone wanting to get rid of the first edition DUO's. Nothing wrong with them, but now the DUO 3 is running $290 (versus $220 for a new original DUO).

Team Futaba, Team Thunder Tiger, Team Scorpion, Team Castle Creations, YS Engines, VelTye

I have owned two of the 50W B6 sub brand chargers (mystery and turnigy) and both are not working now. They worked adequately for about a year a piece then broke. I have charged/balanced my rex 450 2200mah packs with no problems. I then got a rex 600 that requires the 6S plug and 5 amp charge for the 5000mah packs and it took almost 2 hours to charge!!! I'd start two batteries charging...one on the turnigy 50W and the other on an icharger 106B, both at 5 amps. The 106B was finished at 45 min mark and the 50w B6 chargers were finished at an hour and 45 minutes most times. You see, though the popular B6 type of 50W chargers in acutality only charge at 2.2 amps even though the option to go to 5A is there at least on the 3s batts greater than 2200mah. I don't really know why they have the option for 5A charge when you can visibly see them charging at 2.2Amps. Maybe you could charge a smaller battery at 5A I guess, but not a larger one. Anyway if you are going to charge big batts go with a 150w minimum charger like the turnigy, or I charger. Hobbycity has a bunch of chargers at great prices.
Hope this helps!

Why wouldn't you bother with parallel charging?

- Chris

Team New MexicoTJinTech

Parallel charging is great! I been doing it for a year on my MaxPro X6+ and never have any problem with balancing. all my packs cames out equal pretty much all the time, unless the cell goes bad due to age.

Parallel charging also save a lot of time if you got a lot of different capacities 3s1p batteries, you can hook them all up and they will get charge equally.

Why wouldn't you bother with parallel charging?

I don't care for it because it does has limitations. I prefer to charge and monitor each pack individually.

You have to remember that it is a trade off, money vs function. Some have no problem spending $300+ at a charger but many of us must get by with lesser models. Parallel charging allows us to get even more for our money by charging multiple packs with our single channel chargers and still get solid, safe and fast charging. Of course there are also drawbacks but in my opinion they are fewer and lesser than the benefits.

I'm curious...........

Please list in detail the drawbacks of parallel charging and how the sum of those drawbacks makes it essentially useless.

I've watched with some amusement over the past 6+ months or so as you and Chris have gone at it back and forth over chargers and other related issues, so lay your arguments out here, for and against parallel charging, in clear verbage so everyone can make an educated decision. Otherwise it's just a pissing match where those of trying to learn something new don't gain anything.

Team Synergy Team Futaba Team Kontronik USA Progressive RC

However, I didn't see any of the drawbacks you're referring to mentioned in your original post.

I am sorry but wrong again. I linked to my web site where it plainly states the drawbacks (and benefits) I know of and here for your reading pleasure ...

Potential benefits

* Huge time savings. Not only do you get multiple packs done at once but you also only have to hook everything up once.
* Efficient way to charge multiple packs. Keeping the voltage lower means less work for the charger.
* Allows for simultaneous charging of 12s flight packs made up of pairs of 6s packs on chargers that can not otherwise charge 12s packs. Same with 10s or 8s made up of paired 5s or 4s flight packs.
* Safer than serial charging. Because you can connect the packs in any order, there is no chance of creating direct shorts if mix up the connections. This is assuming you have proper adapters.

Potential drawbacks and warnings

* If something were to go wrong during the charge cycle it would effect multiple packs. For example if a pack shorted internally and went off, it could set the other packs off as well.
* When parallel charging you loose the ability to monitor each pack independently. Only averages are displayed by the charger.
* If packs are at vastly different voltages when you connect them together in parallel, it is possible that a large amount of current can flow between the packs as they equalize themselves. In most cases this will not damage the batteries but it can damage the wiring adapters.
* Parallel charging large packs on lesser capable chargers will give little to no benefit, aside from only having to set up charger one time, due to small output capability. Parallel charging is really done best on larger chargers.

Thanks Chris. Well said. I'll look forward to Ace's comments as well.

Team Synergy Team Futaba Team Kontronik USA Progressive RC

Sure, Ben. Here are the limitations of parallel charging as I see it:

1) When I go to the field to fly I bring a variety of aircraft. They don't all use packs containing the same number of cells. If you need to charge packs that don't contain the same number of cells (e.g., 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, etc.) you can't parallel charge. I see this as the main disadvantage of parallel charging.

2) Parallel charging ideally works best when all packs are are at the same level of discharge. Unless multiple packs are being used in the same aircraft it's almost impossible for all the packs to be at the same level of discharge.

3) Some new LiPos are capable of being charged at 5C/6C. When parallel charging the charge current is divided amongst the packs you're charging. This can actually increases your change times. Why buy packs capable of being charged at 5C/6C if you can't charge them at the fastest rate your charger is capable of w/o going over their max charge rate as specified by the manufacturer. The last thing I want to worry about when plugging in multiple packs is worrying about charge rates.

4) Safety, safety, safety. I prefer to deal with each pack on an individual basis when charging. Dealing with each pack on an individual basis allows me to to see exactly what's going on with that specific pack. I do monitor my packs during the charge cycle. There is no such thing as being too safe when it comes to LiPos.

#1, #3 and #4 are your personal issues with parallel charging. Not everyone is in the same situation or has the same concerns.
#1 many people have only 1 or 2 sizes of packs and for them (and me) parallel charging works perfectly. Also I usually only charge at home, so it simplifies my charging.
#3 This is totally dependent on the charger and lipo used. For 450 users (I use the 450 packs as my example on my site for this reason) with powerful charger, parallel is ideal. I personally charge 3 2100 3s packs at 2C and have them done in about 30min.
#4 I, and many others, believe there is nothing unsafe about parallel charging. This is the risk you have to except when you do advanced charging with lipos.

#2 is simply false. You can parallel charge packs of various charge states with no problems. I wouldn't recommend charging fully charged packs with packs that are fully discharged packs ... although it will still work fine ... but then again you don't usually charge fully charged packs.

I say these things with 100s of parallel charging cycles under my belt, and lots of reading and discussion with other pilots. In other words Ace I actually have hands on experience with parallel charging. Can you say the same?